Severe Punnishment
by marauderwormtail89
Summary: Sometimes the professors at Hogwarts can be so evil...
1. The beginning Of It All

**Disclaimer:**_****I Don't own Harry Potter, if I did, I wouldn't be here and I'd be rich. It doesn't hurt to dream though... _

**Severe Punishment**

**Summary**

Sometimes the teachers at Hogwarts can be so evil…

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**Chapter One – The Beginning Of It All**

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Lugging his heavy trunk behind him, seventeen-year-old Harry Potter stepped through the portal for platform nine and three quarters. His owl and friend Hedwig sat in her cage in annoyed silence. Grunting with effort, he continued to pull his trunk behind him. He couldn't seem to find an available cart. He was about to get on the train when familiar voices called out to him.

Running towards him were his friends Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville. He waved, waiting for them. Normally he'd have been upset of not being able to spend the summer with them but he figured they could use a break from him. Hermione seemed to be the first to reach him.

"Harry! It's so great to see you," she said happily before bursting into questions about his summer. Harry then noticed the change. She had a tan and her hair was a little shorter but only a little.

"You got a tan!" he chuckled.

"Oh, well, yes you—" she was pushed aside by Ron.

"Hey mate! How've you been? Those muggles didn't give you a hard time did they?" Ron asked.

"Surprisingly no," Harry replied. "How was Romania?"

"Awesome! We went to Paris after. Really wicked."

"Ron that was rude!" Hermione glowered pushing him aside. Harry could only chuckle as they began one of their many long bickers. He'd missed them a lot.

He was about to say something when none other than Draco Malfoy and his goons came waltzing in. Draco raised an eyebrow before letting out a disgusted sigh. Ron glared, his temper rising. Just the sight of the guy made his blood boil.

"What do you want, ferret?" Ginny demanded. Like her brother, she hated Malfoy too.

Draco advanced on her. "Watch it red." He sneered.

Ginny smirked. "That the best you can do?"

Harry watched as the two glared at each other, sparks of hatred flying out of their eyes. He made his way to step in between them but it was too late. Draco had roughly shoved Ginny aside. Before Harry could stop him, Ron lunged at Draco, fists a-swinging.

"You've no right to touch my sister you dirty son of a—"

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed as he tried to pry his friend away from him. "Relax will you? Calm down. Ginny, are you alright?"

The youngest of the Weasley family stood still, not saying a word. Ron tried another attack but Harry continued to hold him back. Draco simply stood before him, a smirk on his face.

"You can't even fight right," Draco chuckled. "Can't you do anything right? Serves you right for being a mudblood loving freak."

"Grr… Blast you! I swear, if I ever get my hands on you! Harry, let go! Let go! Damn it!" Ron shouted.

A hush fell upon them as Ginny landed a hard punch on Draco's face. In a flash of anger, Draco drew back his hand to hit her back but stopped. He glared at her, his hand trembling. Scoffing, he turned to Harry and Ron. The train blew its whistle signaling it was time to go.

"We'll settle this tonight at mid-night at the Great Hall." He said. Harry only scoffed.

"Why would we want to do that? It's a big waste of time," Harry replied.

"Chicken eh? I always knew you were a coward deep down inside, _Potty._"

Knowing Harry, Draco successfully manipulated him into agreeing. The duel was set and come mid-night, all hell would break loose. As they found a compartment, Hermione went off on her rants on how stupid they were to fall into such a pathetic trap.

"I'm not going to save your butts just because I'm Head girl," she added. Hardly anyone cared for her new position. It was bound to happen anyway.

There was a bit of a shock though when Harry revealed to them that he was chosen to be Head boy. Hermione was unusually quiet, trying to hold back her excitement. After stuffing themselves with delicious food, they finally arrived. Chattering happily, they made their way to the Great Hall. The sight of the delicious food laid out on the table caused Ron to run ahead to the Gryffindor table and start eating.

"So your summer wasn't bad at all," Hermione asked later on.

"Nope. Dudley the hippo actually got a girlfriend and spent the summer making her life miserable," Harry grinned. "Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gave up trying to massacre me so it wasn't bad at all."

"I felt terrible leaving you there all alone," Hermione sighed. "I would've asked you to come but mum and dad had already planned it."

"It's fine. I had a great time reading the books you sent to me."

Ron held back a laugh as he listened to his best friends' conversation. They were both so dense. They probably couldn't see it but everyone else could. His thoughts were interrupted when Ginny came over and poked him.

"You're such a pig Ron. Really. Do you think they notice?" she asked.

"Does it look like they notice? Look at them, making mooneyes at each other… It's sickening."

"You're just jealous because no one wants to make moon eyes with you. Hehe."

"Quiet or I'll hex you."

Once dinner was done and the announcements had been made, the students retired to their quarters. Harry and Hermione had to meet with the professors and had to come back a little later. As they made their way up the staircase, they discussed the new DADA professor. It was a woman for a change by the name of Montego. Everyone agreed that she looked fearsome. Perhaps maybe even more than Snape…

"Oh, Harry hang on," Hermione said reaching into her pocket. "I meant to give this to you over the holidays but it felt so impersonal so I thought I'd give it to you in person…"

"What is it," Harry asked with curiosity.

"I bought it at a shop in Hawaii. I thought you'd like it."

She held out her hand to him, showing him a silver chained necklace with a rather nice looking pendant. It was the letter H embedded with emerald green stones. The letter could spin in the circle that surrounded it.

"Oh wow! You didn't have to get me that," Harry replied. "It's really great though…"

Unexpectedly, Hermione put the necklace on him. She lightly touched the pendant before drawing her hand back. They stared at each other, surrounded by deafening silence. Harry was about to say something when familiar voices broke the silence.

"It's almost twelve."

"Ron, do you really think you'll be able to shut him up? It's Malfoy, he _never _shuts up."

"Harry! There you are!"

Ron and Ginny came walking down the stairs. Hermione waved slightly. She'd forgotten all about their silly little mission.

"You guys were serious," asked a familiar voice.

"Luna," Ron glared. "You scared me! What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to see a duel." Luna grinned.

Shrugging, Ron headed for the Great Hall. As soon he entered, a red stream of magic zoomed past him. Before he could take out his wand, he was hit by a full body-binding spell. Harry, along with Hermione, Ginny, and Luna pulled out his wand and summoned Draco's wand.

"Dirty ferret!" Ginny called out trying to hit him with a binding spell.

Seeing as there was no other way, Draco charged at Harry as Crabbe and Goyle ran away. The two boys continued to scrap until they heard a voice boom out,

"ENOUGH!"

At the entrance stood Professor McGonagall, seething with anger. She walked over, harshly pulling Draco off Harry. She continued to shoot daggers at them.

"Explain yourselves." She demanded in a terrifyingly calm voice.

"They cornered me professor! I was just minding my own business and then Potter and Weasley came up behind me and brought me here and—"

"You liar!" Harry shot back. "He challenged us to duel Professor McGonagall—"

"I'm not lying! It's true! They cornered me!"

"Liar! Liar!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET! Potter, I'm gravely disappointed in you! You're Head boy for goodness sake!"

Harry hung his head in shame. "Sorry professor…"

"Professor McGonagall, what's going on here," asked Professor Snape as he entered the room.

McGonagall looked peeved at Professor Snape's presence. Then again, who wouldn't be? She turned to him and explained what she knew and went back to glaring at the students.

"I'm so angry I can't think of a proper punishment for you! This really does take the cake!" she seethed.

Seeing as this was his opportunity to torture the children, Snape stepped forward with a hideous grin. "Might I make a suggestion, professor?'

"No!" she snapped and pushed him aside. Suddenly a light bulb lit up in her mind. She'd found the perfect punishment. _It's so crazy it might just work, _she thought proudly. "I've the perfect punishment for you… _All _of you."

"But Professor—"

"Sorry Miss Granger, but you had your wand drawn. Tomorrow after lunch you six will report to my classroom to receive your punishment. Now go to your quarters at once before I expel you myself!"

Sulking, with their heads hung low, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione made their way to Gryffindor tower. They'd just gotten back and already they were in trouble.

"This is unbelievable! I'm Head girl for Merlin's sake! I shouldn't be part of this! I didn't _do _anything!" Hermione complained. "I hate you guys."

Harry sighed. "Every year… Every year something always has to happen… _Every _year."

Ron was too busy being a sore loser to care what the other two had to say. "Stupid Malfoy trying to do me in! The dirty little git played dirty! What was I to do?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. They all looked so pathetic. Had they not been in such a situation, it would've been funny.

"Oh cheer up you guys," she said. "I bet it won't even be that bad."

The trio stared at her as if she were a foreign creature from another planet. Harry let out another sigh.

"You don't know that. McGonagall looked really mad… And did you see the way her eyes lit up? Something evil is brewing…" Harry said as he started to panic.

Ron looked at him, reflecting Harry's fear in his eyes. "Oh no… You're right… She's up to something…"

"She's a professor for crying out loud! She can't do anything that bad…" Hermione said but wasn't so convinced. "Can she?"

They all suddenly became very quiet as they thought of the dreadful things tomorrow had to bring.

"We'll just have to wait and see… Won't we?" Ginny asked breaking the intense silence.

The three nodded and with heavy hearts they retired to their dorms. Hogwarts was quiet once again but if you listened very carefully you could hear the evil laughter coming from Professor McGonagall's classroom.

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**Author's Note: **Ohh! Guess who's back! Back again! Hehe, It's me! I'm back! Well for now anyway. I had this crazy idea for a story, so I thought I'd post it up. Heh. I'll keep this short! Can you guess what the punishment is? Hehe! Well anyway, thank you very much for reading and please don't forget to review.

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	2. Picking Out Pumpkins

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**Chapter Two – Picking Out Pumpkins**

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The bright sunlight washed over Harry's face, causing him to stir and finally wake. Stretching, he got out of bed. He was making his way downstairs when he bumped into Hermione. He felt embarrassed to be seen looking so rugged.

"Hermione! Um… Hi," Harry said sheepishly.

"You're late for your duties, and breakfast," she replied. She looked awfully pale.

"What's wrong," Harry asked.

"Today's when we get our punishment."

Harry sighed. He'd forgotten all about it. He ran a hand through his unruly jet-black hair. He couldn't help but wonder what McGonagall had cooked up. Just the thought of it made him sick.

"Well get dressed then before we end up being late for our lessons," she said and went back to her Head Girl duties.

For the six of them, the day seemed to go by slowly. Each hour made them more nervous than the last. They wandered the halls like zombies, lost in their own worlds. At lunch, they snapped.

"I don't want to go," Ron whined and for once he wasn't eating. "I have a bad feeling…"

Harry felt it too. Something terrible was going to happen and he knew it was going to happen to him. Nothing else was said and as soon as lunch was over, they headed for McGonagall's classroom. Luna and Draco were already waiting. Normally a squabble would have broken out between Ron and Draco but they were all too terrified to care.

"Where is she? I just want this over and done with already," Draco muttered.

Harry glanced at him and for once, he agreed. Absent-mindedly, he reached for his new necklace and began to fiddle with the necklace Hermione gave him. His giddy sister joined Ron, who was sitting by the door.

"Look," she said gesturing to Harry. "Hermione gave him that."

Ron looked up, his eyes falling upon the necklace. He held back a smile. He shook his head. He was about to say something but the doors had opened and Professor McGonagall came out. She looked much happier than she was the previous night. Whether it was good or bad, it was undecided. Everyone turned stiff, awaiting the verdict.

"Good," she said, her voice full of cheer. "Good, you're all here."

There was a long pause. She didn't seem to care that the students looked absolutely terrified.

"Now, first we're going to the pumpkin patch," she declared. "Come on, up you get!"

Exchanging worried looks, the six of them followed McGonagall out to the pumpkin patch. Harry scratched his head as he stared at the endless rows of pumpkins before him. He glanced at Ron who gave him a look of confusion.

"You will be in twos, looking for a pumpkin. I've arranged your partnerships," McGonagall explained.

"Uh oh," Ron whispered as he stood beside Harry and Hermione. "This is _bad_."

"Weasley and Malfoy," McGonagall declared. She stopped Ron. "Not you." She turned to Ginny. "You."

Muttering not so nice things, Ginny made her way to stand beside Draco. McGonagall looked pleased… Too pleased. She turned to Harry. The young wizard gulped as he stared back at her. He could only hope that she couldn't see the fear in his eyes. His fear grew as she smiled.

"Granger and Potter," she smirked and turned to Ron who was looking at Luna with a look of fear. He shook his head. "Weasley and…" she turned to Luna. "Well it's obvious who you'll be working with isn't it?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ron went to stand beside his partner. Luna of course looked pleased. The six of them stood side-by-side, awaiting further instructions.

"Find a pumpkin and bring it back to me. One for each pair. Understood?" McGonagall explained. "Now off you go."

They stood still for a moment just wondering why they were gathering pumpkins. Finally they set out and began their search. Draco glared as he walked with Ginny to the back of the pumpkin patch.

"This is ridiculous," he mumbled. "Why do I have to work with you? I'd rather work with Lovegood… Even if she's a lunatic."

"This isn't exactly a treat for me either, stupid ferret. This is all your fault anyway," Ginny shot back. She knelt down before a pumpkin, reaching out to touch it.

Draco sighed. _Might as well let her do all the work, _he thought before turning to watch the others. Ron looked as if he were about to cry as Luna walked with him, chattering away. Harry and Hermione seemed to be the only content couple. They were _actually _looking at pumpkins together.

"What do you think of this one," Hermione asked as she called Harry over. She showed him the perfectly ripe and shaped pumpkin.

"It's nearly perfect. Should we take it?" Harry asked.

"Yes, help me pull it out." She grunted with effort, pulling the pumpkin from the vine. "Help!"

Harry placed a hand on the back of her robes and began to pull.

"Harry," she croaked. "You're choking me! Ack!"

"Erm sorry…" he said sheepishly.

"Put your hands on my waist and pull."

Shrugging, Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her pull. On the other side of the patch, Draco and Ginny were arguing about which pumpkin was better.

"Your pumpkin is demented for crying out loud," Ginny glared.

"Like yours is any better," Draco shot back.

"It's perfectly round!"

"No it's not!'

"Yours has worms!"

"No it—Ahh!" Draco yelped dropping the maggot-infested pumpkin. It smashed into a million pieces at his feet, causing him to run away. "Ew! Gross!"

Snickering, Ginny made her way back to McGonagall. As Harry and Hermione struggled with their pumpkin, Ron and Luna were still searching for their pumpkin.

"You've got to help me too," Luna said with a hint of frustration.

"Just get a pumpkin. It doesn't matter if it's round or not just get one," Ron replied as his eyes fell upon a small funny shaped unripe pumpkin. He walked over, picking it up. Grabbing Luna by the wrist, he made his way back to McGonagall.

With a thud, Harry and Hermione finally got the pumpkin. Brushing themselves off, they joined the others. Everyone seemed to be looking at Ron's funny looking pumpkin.

"Bugger off," he muttered. "I hate this." He whispered to Harry who came to stand beside him.

"Are we going to cook these," Luna asked.

McGonagall simply smiled. "No. Now follow me."

They made their way back to the Transfiguration classroom where they were ordered to put their pumpkins on one of the desks. McGonagall continued to smile as she looked upon the students' faces. She could see the fear shining brightly in their eyes and it just brought nothing but pure joy to her.

_No wonder Severus loves torturing the students. It's so much fun! _"For punishment of the ruckus you caused last night and for the childish behavior you portrayed, you are going to take care of babies for two weeks. Why? Because maybe this will teach you to grow up and be the responsible young adults you're supposed to be." She explained going to each pumpkin. She lightly touched them with the tip of her wand.

"Babies? We haven't got babies and we can't exactly… Make them," Ron gulped.

"That is where the pumpkins come in," McGonagall grinned.

"The pumpkins?" it scared everyone that even Hermione didn't know what was going on.

"I'm not going to pretend a pumpkin is a baby for two weeks," Draco glared. "That's preposterous!"

"You won't be pretending. The pumpkins _are _the babies." McGonagall responded causing more confusion.

"How?" Ron laughed. "Pumpkins can't just be turned into babies. Besides, it's not like they'll actually grow arms and legs and a head and—AHH! WHAT IS THAT!"

Everyone spun around to look at the pumpkins. They were mutating into something else. The orange (green in Ron's pumpkin's case) skin was becoming much lighter and arms and legs were sprouting out of the pumpkins. Ron stumbled back.

"That's not right," Draco said as he turned away.

They continued to watch in horror and awe as the pumpkins disappeared and the three babies stared back at them with goofy baby smiles.

"Whoa," was all Harry could say.

Only Professor McGonagall looked as though pumpkins mutating into babies was a normal everyday thing. After a while of more staring, the three young women approached the table. With trembling hands they reached out to touch the infants. Hermione gasped.

"They're real…" she informed Harry before laughing. "They're so real."

Harry slowly approached the table. Ron and Draco followed closely. As he continued to stare, laughter began to build up inside him. It was totally unreal. He may be in a magical world but still this was just overwhelming. He gasped as one of the babies with thin black and blonde hair and blue gray eyes crawled over to him. The baby held out its arms, asking to be picked up.

"You're not joking," Hermione turned to McGonagall who had a serious look on her face.

"That… That baby doesn't look right," Ron exclaimed as Luna tried to hand him a baby with obsidian black eyes and unruly pink hair. "It's got bright pink hair! Get it away!"

"Don't be a git! Pick it up," Luna demanded.

"Oh, it's so cute," Ginny, squealed as she picked up her pumpkin turned baby. It had sparking bluish green eyes and a thin layer of light brown hair. It seemed to be the cutest out of all three. She laughed as the baby smiled, revealing dimples.

"And what if we don't take care of these… Things," Draco asked.

"If you don't," McGonagall glared. "It will turn back into a pumpkin and I'll dock a hundred points – Even from Gryffindor—Yes my own house—from your houses."

"So you're serious?" they all asked.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" McGonagall shook her head. "Now get going. I'll check in regularly. Bye!" she pushed them out of the classroom, cackling evilly before going to her office.

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**Author's Note: **Hello again! Thanks to: **Madnesslover, Dabookman, Angel's Firebolt, **and **Gohan'slittlebro47 **for reviewing! I appreciate it muchly! Haha, so what do you think of the story now? I know, I know, it's odd right but I'm sure it'll turn out okay... Well I hope so anyway! Well let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

**Have a Nice Day.**


	3. Baby Names

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**Chapter Three – Baby Names**

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The six of them stood outside Professor McGonagall's classroom, dumbfounded, staring at each other. It was very quiet except for the sound of the babies cooing in their "parents'" arms. It remained that way until a rather putrid smell made its way to their noses. Ron sniffed the air a bit before his eyes widened.

"Okay, who let it out," he demanded. This caused uproar within the group.

"Ron, it's not very nice to make accusations," Hermione said before adding, "Unless… Ron, what did you eat? Ew…"

"I think I'm going to throw up," Ginny said handing the baby to Draco as she gagged.

Harry was desperately trying to keep his lunch in his stomach where it belonged. Hermione seemed to be struggling to breathe. As they continued to point at each other about who let out the murderous aroma, Luna was desperately trying to get their attention.

"Don't accuse me of such barbaric behavior," Draco was yelling at Ron who was ignoring him. "Now you listen here—"

"Don't yell at my brother!" Ginny shouted only to be ignored.

"Ginny, don't bother—"

"Shut up mudblood!"

"You take that back!" the Weasley siblings shouted at the blonde haired boy.

"And just what are you going to do about it?"

"Damn it Malfoy, you're such a—"

"Guys?" Luna said. She cleared her throat. "Guys?"

The five of them were all arguing. The babies of course were oblivious to this and continued to coo. Draco handed Ginny the baby but she gave it back and so it went. Luna stared at the baby in her arms, sighing.

"Guys, I think—" more yelling and screaming drowned her out. Having enough, she took a deep breath. "WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!"

The corridor became quiet except for the sound of Luna huffing and puffing. The five of them stared at her, their eyes wide. Then, to their surprise, the babies began to cry. Their loud shrill voices resembled that of a banshee. The six students winced, trying to cover their ears.

"How do we get them to be quiet," Ron yelled over the noise.

Almost immediately, they turned to Hermione. She stared back at them. They all sighed, the look of doom on their faces.

"They need their diapers changed," Luna informed them.

"How do you know that?" Draco shot back.

Without saying a word, Luna walked over to him. They stared at each other for a moment before Luna placed the baby's rear end against his face. Smirking, she walked back to her spot beside Ron. Draco couldn't get the smell out of his nose.

"That's disgusting!" Draco shouted. "UGH! Blehh…"

His reaction caused the babies to laugh and gurgle. Even so, none of them knew what to do next. They continued to stare at each other, just trying to figure out what to do next. It was then that it occurred to them that they had absolutely nothing. They had no baby supplies at all. Nothing at all. How long they stood around just staring at one another there was no saying but finally, Luna spoke.

"We could use cloth, couldn't we?" she asked.

Hermione mulled it over. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot. We haven't got any cloth though."

"Towels!" Ginny exclaimed. "We could use towels!"

The other two young women agreed. They immediately demanded that the boys go get the towels. While they were gone, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna sat on the floor in the middle of the empty corridor.

"Lessons are going to be over soon," Ginny said. "What're we going to tell them?"

"We tell them the truth. It's all punishment," Luna replied.

Hermione sighed. Luna did have a point.

"True."

Finally the boys came back but had no clue how to change diapers. After some time, they tried to actually change the diapers. They really couldn't stand the smell.

"You're doing it wrong!" Ginny exclaimed as she watched Draco try to change the baby's diaper.

"Well if you're such an _expert_, you do it!" he snapped.

"You're supposed to wipe down not up!" Ron was telling Luna whose frustration with Ron was growing.

"Pins," Harry said and Hermione placed the pins in his hands. "And just this—"

"You've pinned it wrong," Hermione pointed out.

"Oh, right."

Draco watched with a glare as he watched Harry and Hermione finish changing their baby. Everyone else watched too as they began to babble with joy.

"Sickening," Draco muttered finishing off changing the baby. He picked up the baby, stared at it for a moment and handed it to Ginny. "There's a problem. We haven't got a nursery."

Now it was Harry's turn to think. Suddenly, he said,

"The _Room Of Requirement_! It'll provide us with all we need!"

Draco hated to say it but he had to. "You're right."

Nodding in agreement, the six of them headed for the _Room of Requirement_. It was the perfect place to hide from the students. They reached the door just as the classroom doors were beginning to open. They quickly stepped inside to be amazed.

The room was full of baby supplies. It had everything they needed. After all, it was the _Room of Requirement_. Relieved, they walked over to the three cribs across the room and placed their babies inside. They walked over to what seemed to be a lounge area. Exhausted, they flopped down onto the comfort chairs.

"Something's missing," Harry said as he watched his assigned baby. What it was, he couldn't tell.

Everything they needed seemed to be in order. Changing tables, food supplies, a small kitchen and what seemed like two spare rooms with three beds each. Everyone turned to him.

"What could possibly be missing," Ron asked.

"Baby names," Luna yawned snuggling close to an oblivious Ron.

"Of course!" Ginny exclaimed. "All this time we've been carrying them without giving them names. How silly of us."

Hermione smiled. "Well, "our" baby is a girl so… I suggest we name her Lily."

Harry turned to her. They smiled at each other. He nodded in agreement.

"Our baby is a boy," Ginny thought out loud.

"I say name him Lucius. After my father of course," Draco said proudly.

"Absolutely not! There is no way I'm going to let you ruin my baby's life with such a vile name!"

The two were now standing and yelling at each other. Harry shook his head as he watched. A smile appeared on his face as he thought of them ending up together. He glanced at Ron. He looked a bit worried and was paying no attention to Luna's head resting on his shoulder.

"And just what do you plan on calling him? _Arthur?_" Draco rolled his eyes.

"_Don't _drag my father into this you filthy ferret!"

"Well come on them! Tell me what you had in mind!"

"Why should I tell _you _anything?"

"Because it's _our _baby!"

They stopped arguing, blushed and turned away from each other. Hermione leaned down to Harry's ear and whispered,

"Isn't this cute?"

Harry scoffed. "Puh-leeze. I'd laugh if those two ever got together. They just don't fit."

"Can you imagine Ron's reaction?" they both giggled at the thought.

"Leander," Ginny said suddenly. "I was thinking of naming… The baby Leander."

Draco kicked at a spec of dust. "That's… Not too bad."

Ginny sighed. "Any ideas other than Lucius and Arthur?"

"Not really," Draco mumbled. He walked over to the baby's crib and picked him up. He stared at the baby with a hidden smile. "Leander."

At the mention of this name, the baby let out a small happy gurgle. Draco slightly tickled the baby. Everyone watched with surprise as Draco continued to play with the baby.

"You like that name, don't you," Draco said, his smile finally coming out and Ginny couldn't help but smile a little too. "Leander…"

"Ahem," Ginny cleared her throat. "So it's agreed? Our baby's name will be Leander."

Draco stopped what he was doing immediately and set Leander back down in his crib. He sat back down in his spot.

"Well, he seems to like it…" Draco said. "So I guess that's what his name will be."

Ginny nodded, taking back her seat. Now everyone turned to Ron and Luna. It was because of this that Ron finally noticed Luna's head on his shoulder. He immediately pushed her aside, causing her to fall off the sofa.

"What're you going to name your baby," Hermione asked.

"Like I'd know," Ron replied. He thought for a moment. "Ron sounds nice."

"Yeah, for a complete idiot," Draco laughed.

"Shut up."

Luna smiled. "We need a unique name for a unique baby."

Ron scratched his head. "Bob?"

Everyone shook their head. He glanced at the pink haired male baby smiling happily at nothing.

"Wendell," Ginny suggested.

"Wendell's a stupid name," Ron snapped back.

"Harold," Harry laughed.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Any _other_ suggestions?" he turned to Luna. He peered at her suspiciously. "You've gotten quiet."

Luna smiled. "Don't tell me you want to hear my suggestion for a baby name."

"Just let me hear it or I'll name the baby Draco." Ron replied.

"NO!" Luna and Ginny shouted in unison.

"Well?"

Luna blushed. "I've been wanting to call him Aric since I first saw him."

Ron pondered about the name. He didn't really have any ideas so he decided to agree. At least the baby had a rather unique name to go with his rather unique appearance.

"Look, they're sleeping," Hermione, pointed out. "They're so adorable."

"Does this mean we can go to our lessons?" Ginny asked.

"Yes but we need someone to stay and keep watch," Hermione replied.

None of them could miss their lesson so they had to decide the old fashioned way.

"Rock paper scissors!"

Surprisingly enough, five out of six chose rock, beating out Draco's scissors. Draco glared at them. He couldn't believe his luck. He couldn't stay. He had no clue what to do or how to handle babies.

"You can't leave me here," he said as the five of them headed for the door.

"Sorry Draco! Gotta run!" they shouted and left him before he could protest any more.**

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**Author's Note: **Don't you appreciate that I love you all too much to keep this chapter from you any longer? Lol joking! Anyway, there you have chapter three! Babies... Hehe! Lemme know what you think and for those who've reviewed, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!I'll update again as soon as I can but as for now, So long!

Till we meet again!

Marauderwormtail89


	4. Babies Babies Babies!

**-----**

**Chapter Four: Babies Babies Babies!**

**-----**

Normally Ginny wouldn't have cared about Draco Malfoy but knowing that he was all-alone with three children made her uneasy. It wasn't the babies she was worried about but Draco himself. The boy had no clue what to do! Although, thinking about it did bring a smile on her face. Still smiling, she headed for her Potions lesson.

All alone, with no idea what to do, Draco Malfoy sat on the sofa, staring at the cribs. At least for now it was quiet but he had a feeling something terrible was going to happen. On the upside he got to miss his lessons. The downside was, he was extremely bored. Not only that but there was nothing to do. He glanced at the toy box.

_Well it's something to do _he thought as he stood and opened the toy box. Several toys were inside and had he been any younger, he'd have thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Smirking, he picked up a doll. He shook it before placing it on the coffee table. He stood far from it, wand ready. He was so lost in his silly game that he didn't notice Lily had woken up. She was watching him with curiosity. Smirking, oblivious that Lily was watching him; Draco cast a spell and blew the doll's head off.

Lily watched as the doll's head bounced off the table and rolled down near her crib. Draco looked at her, seeing that she looked as if she were about to cry. His heartbeat slowed as she slowly opened her mouth, her eyes shut tight. His heart stopped beating as soon as she let out a loud shrill cry. To make things worse, the other two babies woke up and began to cry also. Draco stood watching them for a moment, his jaw agape.

Their cries got louder, prompting Draco to get a move on. The only problem was, he didn't know whom to tend to first.

"Hush now," he said picking up Lily and awkwardly patting her on the back. "Come on now, stop crying. Stop crying! All of you stop crying!"

But they wouldn't. If possible, they got louder. Not knowing what to do, Draco picked up Aric and tried to comfort both babies in his arms. Leander's wailing only seemed to get louder. Draco felt like he was going deaf and had trouble carrying two infants at once. He checked their diapers but they were clean. He tried to get them to sleep but they just kept being fussy.

"SHUT UP OR I'LL HEX YOU!" he shouted in exasperation. He let out a sigh of relief when they became quiet. Unfortunately, they cried again but much louder this time.

"WAHHH!"

"Noo!" Draco cried out in anguish and sank to the floor. He caught a glimpse of the kitchen and was stuck with an idea. Were they hungry? He jumped up, running to the kitchen. He got out some baby food, pouring its contents into three bowls. He sat the three of them in the high chairs and began feeding them.

"Whew," he said once they'd quieted down for good. He put the dirty bowls away and let them out of the chairs. He sat on the sofa, letting them crawl around. He didn't even care that they were putting whatever they could find in their mouths. Draco's peace was interrupted was Aric crawled by, smelling rather disgusting.

"Oh no," Draco groaned as he watched Lily and Leander grunting with effort. It could only mean one thing and he didn't want to deal with it now.

_Damn them for leaving me!_ He cursed as he got up and picked Aric up. He held his breath as he undid Aric's diaper. Draco shook his head while Aric giggled on the table.

"You think this is funny do you," Draco choked out. "Ugh."

Once he was done, he sat Aric down on the floor and set out to find Lily and Leander. He began to worry, as they didn't seem to be in sight.

"Lily! Leander!" he called out. Of course, he should have known that they couldn't answer. "Lily! Leander!"

To his relief and horror, he found the two babies covered in their own filth. Draco gagged as he tried to approach them. He thought he was going to die. He picked them up, rushing them to the bathroom.

"Bad babies! Bad!" Draco scolded them as he disposed their dirty diapers. He ran the water and settled them into the tub. "Maybe I should get Aric to take a bath too. You two stay here. No drowning!"

He quickly picked up Aric and set him down with Leander and Lily and the small tub. He thought giving babies baths was easy but he couldn't have been more wrong. The three of them ganged up on him, splashing him. By the time they'd finished, he was sopping wet and huge foam of shampoo was settled atop his head. At least they were clean. He gathered them in his arms, got them changed and sat them down on the sofa. Sadly, the babies had no intention of just sitting around. They tried to get out of the couch to play some more.

"You never get tired of playing, do you," Draco chuckled. He was surprised when they tugged at his pants. "What's this? What're you doing that for?" Draco asked and knelt down to get a proper look at them. Aric threw a rattle at him. "You want me to play with you, do you? Well then."

He got down on the floor and almost immediately the three babies "attacked" him. He spent the rest of his time rolling around with them, making them laugh until he was exhausted. Too tired to go back to the sofa, Draco continued to lie down on the floor. Lily yawned; snuggling close to him while Leander crawled atop of his chest and got comfortable. With Lily in his arm, she fell asleep while Aric laid his head to rest against his head and although he may have looked silly, he couldn't have been more comfortable.

-----

Yawning, Harry made his way to the _Room Of Requirement. _He couldn't help but laugh. Sure it looked cute but Draco looked rather out of place. In fact, he didn't even look like Draco. He looked so peaceful. Harry's joyous laughter brought Draco back from his dreams. He squinted up at Harry who stood over him with a grin.

"Where's Colin when you need him," Harry teased.

"Sod off Potty," Draco sneered. He made to get up but was being weighed down by the babies. "A little help would be nice."

Still smiling, Harry knelt down and picked up Lily. He gave her a quick kiss before picking up Aric.

"Where's everyone else?" Draco asked. He picked up Leander and placed him in the highchair.

"Ron and Hermione are at the library and Luna is helping out Professor Binns with something. Ginny's out on the Quidditch field."

"Shouldn't you be out there too then?"

"No. Why, do you _miss _Ginny?"

Draco glared. "Doesn't it bother you that your precious mudblood is with your bumbling idiot of a best friend?" Draco snapped. He didn't like being teased. Especially about that… That annoying red headed girl.

Harry glared back at him but didn't reply. He set Lily down in her crib before going to the kitchen to prepare Lily's bottle. Draco scoffed and set down Leander and Aric in their cribs.

"It's not fair that I've got to deal with the baby while she's out," Draco muttered as he lightly ruffled Leander's light brown hair.

"Oh my, it does sound like you _miss _her. Hehe."

"Don't push it Potter!"

"There's no shame in admitting you're human."

Draco scoffed, "You take over, I'm going to go out."

Harry sighed and watched him leave. He deserved a break. After all, he had done a good job. He turned to Lily who was reaching her hands out to him. He chuckled, handing her the bottle.

"Such a pretty girl," he said. He looked up to see Hermione standing in the doorway. He blushed and smiled. _Damn it, every time I see her I get all red! This is so frustrating._

_He's looking at me in that funny way again… _"She adores you," she said as she walked over. "You're good with—Hey, where's Leander?"

"He should be in his crib," Harry replied as he turned to look but Leander's crib was empty. "Uh oh."

* * *

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**Author's Note: **_Well what do you think? Sorry if the chapter's short, heh! Anyway, I hope you like the chapter and thank you so much for those of you who've reviewed. It means a lot! Thanks again! _

Have a Nice Day!

**Marauderwormtail89**


	5. The Search Is On!

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**Chapter Five: The Search Is On**  
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"I swear, I just put him down there a few minutes ago," Harry muttered as he scratched his head. He gently rocked Lily in his arms as he began to survey the room. Where could have little Leander gone?

"Are you sure? Maybe you put him in the wrong crib or something," Hermione replied as she started to look around the room.

When there was no sign of the infant, panic began to set in. Harry quickly handed Lily to Hermione, turning tables upside down. He must've pushed the couch around several times before he finally gave up. He looked in the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the other cribs. At one point he even started to speak to the other babies. It was pointless and it only seemed to make him look silly.

"Any luck," Harry asked Hermione a while later. Lily had no fallen asleep in her arms. She shook her head. "Draco's going to hex me. I just know it."

"Don't worry, he's—"

"Oh, no! NO! No!" Harry began to shout. He grabbed at his hair, his facial expression that of both agony and shock. "I can't believe it! I can't believe this!"

Hermione frowned with confusion. Even though Harry seemed to be in quite a lot of despair, she couldn't help but think he looked rather cute. She followed his gaze and let out a sigh.

"Well it's no wonder we can't find him in here… He's probably gone off out that door."

"Which _you_ left open!"

"I did not!" Hermione said haughtily. "It was already open when I came in, mind you."

"Oh, sure it was."

Just as they were about to get into a heated argument, Ron, Luna and Ginny waltzed in, all looking exhausted. They stopped in the middle of the doorway, staring at the two before them. They tilted their head to the side, watching intently.

"Well, maybe if you'd learn to close the door when you—"

"I told you! I didn't—"

"Oh please, just because—"

"Ahem." Ron stepped in between them quickly. "Question; what is happening?"

Harry nervously looked at Ginny; afraid she'd attack him if he told the truth. He bit at his lip, stepping in front of Leander's crib to cover his tracks. Unfortunately, Luna had gone over to pick up Aric, noticing the empty crib next to it, she blurted out,

"Oh, where's Leander?"

Harry was pushed aside as Ginny rushed over to the crib. She stared at him, long and hard, waiting for an explanation. He smiled back nervously, shifting uncomfortably in his spot.

"Um, heh, heh, you see Ginny… I um…"

"He's with Draco. They went out for a walk," Hermione cut in, unable to withstand seeing Harry squirm.

"Oh, okay." Ginny replied. "Well, I'm going to go lay down for a bit. Do try to be quiet. Practice was horrible."

As soon as she was out of sight, Harry pulled Ron, Luna and Hermione aside. He explained to them the situation, Ron smacking him and Luna gasping with horror. They tried to figure out whom to blame, but decided to split up and look for Leander before Ginny and Draco caught on.

"So if you see him and he asks how Leander is doing, just say he's with Ginny, alright?" Harry asked for confirmation. The three nodded. "Okay, good. If you find him, just pick him up and run back here." Again, they nodded in understanding. They split up quickly, roaming the school.

Ron muttered angrily under his breath as he and Luna searched near the Great Hall. Luna seemed not to hear him, lost in a song she was humming to herself. Ron frowned with irritation. Why did he have to partners with her anyway? She was insane! Well, as far as he was concerned. Not only that, but it was scary how she often looked at him with this odd glint in her eye. Whenever she looked at him like that, he was instantly reminded of a crazed lunatic, or a fat kid eyeing a nice large slice of chocolate cake. He licked his lips.

_Mmm, chocolate cake._

"What are you muttering about? It's really quite annoying you know," Luna's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Annoying? _Annoying?_" Ron raised his voice. "You think _I'm _annoying?! Well what about you? Humming some ridiculously pointless tune!"

"It's not pointless! It's that new song by—"

"I don't _care_. Don't tell me to shut up if you can't shut up."

"I didn't tell you to shut up—"

"Weasley, Lovegood," said Professor McGonagall as she approached them. "How is your little project coming along?"

The two students gulped. "Well, quite well," they replied in unison.

"We're learning quite a—Leander!" Luna shouted and then caught herself. "I mean, I mean we're learning a lot professor."

It was then that Ron saw the small infant crawling away behind Professor McGonagall. He'd never seen a baby move so fast. He had to get to him. He gestured for Luna to cause a distraction. He began to dance, slowly swaying from side to side, moving from foot to foot. He tried to look as uncomfortable as ever.

"Nn…" he said. "Nn…"

"Mr.Weasley?" McGonagall frowned with curiosity.

"Nn.." Ron continued to do his little hop dance. "Nn..Hmm."

"So, Professor, how long do we have to keep up with this… Project?" Luna asked with a grin. McGonagall frowned at her.

"For as long as you can hold out, or until I've decided—"

"Hehehe," Ron began to giggle, dancing slightly faster. He froze. His eyes widened. He took off. He had to get to Leander before he got too far. "I-I um- I have to- PEE!!"

and he shot off like a bullet, chasing after the small child. Before McGonagall could turn around, Luna threw herself at her professor, holding on tightly.

"Miss Lovegood!" McGonagall yelped out in surprise.

"I love you," Luna said in a singsong voice. She began to pull them to a room. "Uhm, Professor, I uh… I want to… Show you something! Yes… Show you… Do come along." And she dragged a confused McGonagall away.

"Drat! Come back here you little bugger," a frustrated Ron muttered as he chased after a fast paced crawling Leander. "Come on, come to Uncle Ronald. I've got candy! Come on!" he dug into his pocket and pulled out some sweets. "See! See look I've got—Hey, I've got candy!—No, this isn't the right---Oh no. NOOOO!!!" Ron sobbed. Leander was gone.

on the other end of the school, Harry and Hermione worked hard, searching every room they could find. They had no luck finding him either. Deciding they'd searched practically all the rooms, they tried to find Ron and Luna. They came just in time to see an infuriated, scared looking McGonagall emerging from a classroom, a red faced Luna close behind.

"Where's Ron," Hermione asked once the professor had gone. "And why is she so… Mad?"

"I… Nothing. Never mind her. Ron's—Ron!"

the red haired Weasley boy was sitting in the middle of the corridor munching on candy. He seemed to indulging himself yet looking miserable as well. Harry ran up to him, confused.

"What in bloody blazes are you doing?" he asked.

"I had 'im Harry. I had him! I was _so _close but the little tyke got away from me!" Ron sobbed pathetically. "You know, for a little baby, he sure can move fast."

"So… you're here eating… Candy?" Hermione asked as she and Luna approached them.

"I got hungry?"

"RON!"

"You're hopeless. Come on then, he's probably still around here somewhere. Where was he headed?" Harry asked.

"Over there."

A heavy silence fell upon the group as they looked at the direction in which Ron was pointing. Harry shook his head.

"Bloody hell…"

"We're in trouble now."

"We're going to be expelled, just because _you _forgot to close the stupid door!"

"Don't blame me! I didn't—"

"look! Look there he is!" Luna exclaimed as she pointed to the small gurgling baby-sitting outside the doors to the potions classroom. If Snape saw them, they were completely doomed.

"Oh, no, no Leander, don't go in there." Hermione muttered.

Leander got on all fours and the four of them found themselves leaning forward, shaking their heads.

"No, no, that's a bad baby! Bad!" Ron hissed. "Don't you dare!"

Leander crawled a little bit forward.

"No, no. Come here baby, we have candy, come along," Luna grabbed the last piece of candy from Ron, holding it out to the infant.

He crawled forward a little more.

"You get back here this instant mister!" Hermione said sternly.

But it was too late. Leander had crawled into the potions room, the doors coming to close behind him.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Omg! OMG! Can you believe I updated? Lol. It's been SO long since I last updated this! I've been wanting to for a while but I finally got around to it. I figured... I should update it. Who knows, I might even finish this. Heee heee. I'm so sorry for those who've been reading and reviewing and waiting for updates. Life just got in the way, ya know? But I'm back! I'm back baby and I'm going to kick some arse. Hehe. Anyway, please, please leave me a review. I love them. They're the only reason I write on these things! I'd really, love it and appreciate it. Sorry for the delay!! Don't forget to review!!_

_Thanks a bunches. _

_Lovez ya all. _

**_MarauderWormatil89_**


	6. Saved!

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**Chapter Six: Saved!  
**—————

The group of four stood outside the room, looking at the large, closed wooden doors before them. Ron let out a heavy sigh, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Alright mate, you're up. It's time to play the hero and get little Leander out of the evil monster's grasp," Ron said. Harry turned to him, skeptical.

"Are you _mad_?! I'm not going in there! Why don't _you_ go? He's your non-biological nephew!"

"Yes, that may be so but _you_ lost him! And besides, I don't want to go in there."

Harry rolled his eyes, looking at the two girls for some support. Hermione looked away, pretending to be busy in observing something else while Luna stared blankly right back at Harry. Sighing, Harry pushed past them and headed for the doors. He stared up at them for a moment before slowly pushing them open. The Potions classroom looked quite different empty. The lights seemed much dimmer, giving the room more of a scary atmosphere. The lack of lights made it even more difficult to see around the room. Taking a few steps forward, Harry walked hunched down as a way to avoid being seen. He jumped slightly at the sound of the doors closing. He was completely alone. Gulping, he whispered out Leander's name.

"C'mon baby, where are you?" he looked around under the desks. Nothing. "Leander… Please, please come—"

"Sorry professor, I didn't mean to miss your lesson, I was just feeling ill," came the sound of Malfoy's voice coming from the small room up in the classroom. Snape's office. Panicking, Harry dove under a desk.

"You know I don't take absentee-ism well Malfoy. Not only that but your performance in this class is lacking. Don't let it happen again." Snape's stern and hateful voice warned. The door creaked open and the two stepped out. It was then that Harry saw Leander underneath a large desk, sitting looking quite indifferent. Not only that but he was in pure sight of the two men coming out of the office. Harry tried to gesture to him, only to fail.

"Oh, darn. This is ridiculous!" he muttered under his breath. _I have to think of something quick! I can't let Draco see us! What in bloody blazes am I going to do?!_ He thought. It was then that a thought struck him. _Of course! Why didn't I think of it before!_ Clearing his throat as quietly as he could, he whispered, "_Accio Leander!"_

Snape stopped walking immediately, looking around the room suspiciously. He swore he'd heard something. Draco too heard it, recognizing both the voice and the name. Feeling that his help was severely needed, Draco began to talk to Snape as a means of distracting him.

"Oh, professor, I was just wondering…" _what am I going to say? _"You see… I seem to have found this um… Wart…"

Harry tilted his head to one side. It took a moment before Harry realized just what Draco was doing. Seeing that this was his chance he made to crawl, forgetting about the chairs in front of him.

"What was that?" Snape turned quickly at the sound. Harry froze in his spot, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Nothing! Nothing at all professor, now back to my wart… Um…"

"Wart? What are you talking about?"

Treading carefully, Harry made his way to Leander, his arms out and reaching for him. Just a little more…

"POTTER! What are you doing?!" it was Snape. He looked furious. Harry looked at Draco who was glaring.

"Uhm… Professor… You see I seem to have misplaced my glasses and—"

"You mean the ones you are wearing? Get up this instant and explain yourself Potter, NOW!"

"Oh, ha! Well, silly me sir, I—"

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

"NN!"

"You've got some explaining to do!" Draco shouted as he lunged and grabbed hold of his baby.

"Can we just please get out of here!?"

"Wait! Hang on," Draco said and walked up to Snap, wand pointed out. "I'm sorry professor, but I've got to. _Obliviate!"_

"You have to unbind him!" Harry said worriedly. "Or someone's going to find him like that and we'll get into more trouble!"

"He's going to see us anyway!" Draco snapped back.

"Wait! I got it! _Stupefy!_" and Snape's body fell to the floor. Running as fast as they could, Draco and Harry bolted out of the potions classroom.

Ron, Hermione, and Luna rushed to their aide as soon as they came out. Draco handed Leander to Hermione, spinning around to glare at Harry. Harry blinked.

"We should probably make it look like he fell asleep or something…" Harry said uneasily, knowing that Snape wasn't what Draco wanted to talk about.

"WHY? WHY WAS MY BABY OUT?!" Draco shouted, not caring at the moment if anyone had heard. It didn't matter, he was infuriated and he couldn't even explain why. He knew half of it was the fear of failing and being expelled.

"It's not my fault alright?" Harry shot back and glanced at Hermione. He was about to blame her once again but decided it against it. "I… I lost track of him while I was caring for Lily. I'm sorry, but at least we found him!"

"You're the _worst_ baby sitter there is, Potter." Draco shook his head. He took back Leander, heading for the room of requirement.

"Hey! What about Snape?" Harry called after him.

"You got yourselves into this mess. You three figure it out," Draco called out over his shoulder and disappeared into the next hall.

Sighing, Harry shook his head. "Well, come on then… Maybe we can have some fun putting Snape back in his office…" and the other two followed close behind.

————

"Oh, there you are," Ginny said as soon as Draco and Leander walked through the door. "Have a nice walk?"

Draco blinked for a moment before realizing that she had no idea what had just happened. He nodded, flopping down onto the sofa next to her. She took hold of Leander, giving the little baby a kiss on the forehead. Draco watched her.

"You seem… Tired." Ginny informed him. "I hope the babies weren't that much trouble?"

Draco shook his head.

"Well… Good then. I'm going to get Leander a bottle…" Ginny felt uneasy being watched by one of her enemies. She stood, walking to the kitchen, still feeling Draco's eyes on her. Just then, the doors opened and Hermione, followed by Luna, Ron and Harry came in. The two boys flopped down on the sofa next to Draco, exhausted.

"What'd you do with him?" Draco asked a moment later. He was careful to keep his voice low.

"Made it seem like he fell asleep doing paper work… It should do," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Who would have thought parenting would be so hard?"

"I wonder how mum and dad did it with us Weasley kids…" Ron pondered.

"I just hope I wasn't that much trouble," Luna said as she tried to weasel her way next to Ron. He was too tired to care that she was so close.

"Well, I've got homework to do, so I'd better get going on that," Hermione declared. "What?" she asked when they all looked at her as though she were a lunatic.

"Aren't you _tired_ at all?" Harry asked.

"Well, yes, but I've got to do my work too you know! Just because I'm a parent temporarily doesn't mean I can slack off. Really, you guys should know better." she said.

Everyone chose to keep silent but in Harry's mind, he couldn't help but think how amazing she was to be able to handle both parenting and school. He smiled. Hermione caught his smile and smiled right back before going into the kitchen to study the day's lessons.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_Good God! Can you believe I updated at all?! I know, I know... You all probably this story was a lost 'cause seeing as I updated it June... Lol six months have passed by wow! It's already almost Christmas... You think I should put a Christmas chapter on here? Hehe.. Christmas with babies how cute! I'd like to thank those who've reviewed! I'm terribly sorry for the long update but I promise you I shall finish this story! If you keep reviewing, I think I will if not... I'll probably hold off more updates for another... 6 months? Lol. Well anyway! I hope people are still reading this!! I love you guys!! I hope this chapter wasn't that terrible!!_

**Marauderwormtail89**

**PS:** _I looked at Chapter five and realized I spelt my own penname wrong... LOL XD silly me_


	7. Restlessness & Trickery!

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**Chapter Seven: Restlessness & Trickery**

--

Light snoring filled the small room, followed by giggles of glee. Finally finished with her homework, Hermione stepped out of the kitchen, a yawn finally escaping her. A glance at the giant wall clock in the room surprised her. She couldn't believe how late it was. She followed the noise she'd been hearing from the kitchen, her search leading her to the large sofa where five of her companions sat and slept. They looked rather silly, she thought as she shook her head.

Harry, who was seated next to Draco and also at the end of the sofa, had his head rested upon the arm while next to him Draco slept peacefully, one arm extended, resting on the back of the sofa. Ginny was cuddling with him, her head upon his chest, one arm around his waist. On the other end of her were Luna and Ron. Ron seemed to be falling off the armrest, while Luna's head rested upon his back. All together they snored lightly, exhausted from the days events.

Then her eyes fell upon the three infants, sitting in a large play pen, smirking and giggling at each other. Aric was clapping two blocks together while Lily and Leander stared around the room in amusement. She slowly made her way over, picking up Lily, fighting back another yawn. She was tired and really wanted to just flop down onto a bed… It was then she spotted the door across the room. She couldn't recall seeing it earlier. Shrugging, she walked over, opening it to reveal long, dark narrow corridor that withheld three doors. She whipped out her wand.

"_Lumos_," she whispered, illuminating the hall. She walked to the first door, slowly opening it. She was surprised when the lights came on, dimly lighting the small dark space. In it were two separate beds, on the other end a crib. "Bedrooms," she said with awe. "This room really does think of everything. She decided to set Lily down in the crib, watching as the toddler crawled over to the bunny-like teddy bear in the corner. She threw it down repeatedly before snuggling with it.

Hermione made her way back to the living room, gently waking up everyone as best as she could. She decided to shake Harry since no one else seemed to want to wake up willingly. His eyes fluttered open. His first instinct was to push his glasses closer to his face before they could fall off completely. He stared at her for a moment before stifling a yawn.

"Hi," he stretched. He looked around at his comrades before laughing. "Wow, taking care of kids must really be exhausting… Oh, are you done studying now?" he asked turning to her.

"Yep. I think we should wake them up… I can't imagine it's comfortable the way they are," she gestured to everyone else. "I'll wake Draco and you get Ron." She gently poked Draco. He twitched momentarily before going back to sleep. She looked over at Harry who seemed to be now punching Ron on the shoulder, but the redhead still continued to snooze. The commotion, however, caused Luna to flutter her eyes open.

"Mm, Harry, you really shouldn't beat on people while they're sleeping." she said.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't be beating him if he'd _get up_ already." Harry said as he poked Ron harder. He drew back when Ron let out a small whimper that soon turned back to snoring. Frustrated, he smacked him. _If that doesn't wake him up, I don't know what will._ He didn't get up at all.

"Uhn… Stop poking me!" Draco shot up, his arms extending out before him as a defence mechanism to shove whoever had been poking him, away. This course of action caused him to accidentally push Ginny down onto the floor. Despite the impact, the Weasley girl slept on, just as her brother had done. Draco jumped up, quickly picking her up and setting her down on the sofa. He could feel Hermione and Harry's watchful eyes. He spun around with a glare.

"What," he demanded. He turned and glared at Luna as well but she was too busy pinching Ron's cheeks to notice. Then fatigue washed over him. "Why'd you have to go and wake me up anyway…"

"Well, sorry for being concerned about your well being. But I figured since the five of you couldn't possibly sleep there…" Hermione stopped, figuring there was no time to lecture the stubborn blonde. "I found rooms. With beds. That you can actually _sleep_ in. But if you'd rather just sit there and have a stiff body in the morning, well be my guest."

Draco blinked. He looked away, muttering, "Okay, fine…"

"I think it's impossible to wake these two up," Luna suddenly said while yanking on Ron's ears. She giggled as he laughed. "Ooh, he's ticklish."

The three of them stared at her, brows furrowed. She shrugged. As if the others weren't shocked enough, she stood, hoisting Ron over her shoulders, carrying him like a fireman would. Harry and Hermione watched, mouths open. Draco ran a hand down his face, unable to believe the sight before him. He shook his head.

"Well, we're off to sleep, I'm pretty tired," Hermione said. It seemed she didn't have to say anything more because Harry soon followed after her. The sound of slamming doors, one by one, filled the room.

Draco was the only one who remained, staring at Ginny. He then set out ways to wake her up. Poking, yelling (which only caused Harry and Luna to poke their heads out and yell at him to "shut the hell up"), shaking and even pinching. Nothing worked. He decided there was no other way but to carry her to the last room. He made to pick her up when Luna stepped out with a silly grin on her face. She walked over to the playpen, picking up Aric.

"Heh, silly me… Forgot my own child…" and she sauntered off to return to her room.

Sighing, Draco picked up Ginny, carrying her to the last unoccupied room. It surprised him how light she was. Despite the fact that she and him hardly ever got along, carrying her didn't seem to bother him at all. He opened the door with one hand, kicking it open with his foot. He stepped forward. He forgot to tilt her around, thus causing her to hit her head against the wall. Afraid that she might awake, Draco stood still. But she didn't say anything. She slept on.

"Amazing…" he muttered as he walked into the dimly lit room. Laying her down on the bed, he went back out to get Leander. With everyone settled in where they were supposed to, he fell back on the bed with a sigh. He cringed. He never knew how sore his body was until then.

**--**

"WAH!!"

Harry bolted upright in his bed. With blurry vision he scanned the room. The lights had turned off during the night, making it completely dark. He heard sniffling before another cry was let out. Lily, was up. He lethargically got out of bed, trudging over to the crib. He picked her up, rubbing her back, but the crying didn't cease and only seemed to intensify. He hadn't of wanted to wake up Hermione, but it was too late. The young woman was already getting out of bed.

"What's the matter," she asked groggily. She flicked on the lamp, only to blush when she saw Harry cradling Lily. He was trying to ease the infant's cries but nothing seemed to work. She had a feeling that somewhere in the near future she'd be seeing a familiar scene like this once more. She got up, walking over to him to offer a hand.

"I can't get her to stop and she doesn't need changing or anything…" he mumbled sleepily. Just then, more cries could be heard erupting from the neighbouring rooms. As if on cue, all of them stepped out into the hall with crying children.

"Bloody 'ell," Ron was rubbing his eyes. He didn't seem to mind that Luna's arms were wrapped around his, her head upon his shoulder as she too yawned. For a while they stood there, yawning as their children cried in their arms.

Soon they were all seated in the kitchen, three highchairs containing their "babies". Ginny was falling asleep on the table while Draco put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. He (despite how much he wanted to see it) didn't want her slamming her face down on the marble counter.

"I didn't even think to feed them," Ron muttered grudgingly as he prepared baby food for Aric. Luna was busy, sleeping on the cold countertop. He wanted to pour the apple sauce on her head just for the hell of it.

He looked over at Harry and Hermione who were the only ones who didn't seem to have an issue. Harry was playing with Lily while Hermione prepared food for Lily and Leander, seeing as how lazy the child's actual "parents" were.

"It's four in the morning… We should be _sleeping_," Ron whined. "It's not _fair._"

"Well it _is_, punishment," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"McGonagall is just mean." Ron muttered. He handed Draco a small bowl of apple-sauce. The light murmur of "thanks" from the blonde went unnoticed.

"If parenting is really this hard, I'm never getting married." Ron said as he struggled to feed Aric. The pink haired child was being to fussy.

He watched, envious, as Harry and Draco had no problem feeding their so called "children". He glared at Aric, who glared back. Apple sauce flew at him. Giving up, he set the bowl aside, collapsing down onto the marble table top.

"I forgot…" Hermione yawned, "…who's going to take care of these guys when we've got our classes? Draco can't exactly miss anymore classes…"

Draco nodded wearily. He put his hand down, palm up, catching Ginny's forehead as she fell forward.

"I guess I can take a round," Harry suggested, struggling to keep his eyes open now.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked worriedly. The look on her face caused the two young men across the table to scoff before quieting.

"Yeah, I mean, if Malfoy can do it, I can do it ten times better." Harry grinned, trying to provoke the young man.

"As if," Draco muttered. "You'd probably end up _losing_ them."

"I would not. It was ONE time. And really, who cares about you? The babies favour me more," Harry challenged. His statement was met with a giggle of appreciation from the toddlers. Draco turned red.

"You can't _possibly_ do a better job at baby-sitting than me! I had these babies fed, bathed, changed and asleep when _you_ showed up! You'd probably forget about them!"

"I would not!"

"Well I'm not letting you look after them so you'd better just forget it!"

Harry jumped up. "The hell you won't! I'm going to stay here tomorrow and take care of them!"

"No! I am!"

"I am!"

"I am!"

"_I'm_ going to take _wonderful_ care of them. Besides, who knows what you might teach these pure innocent minds! They could grow up to be like you! A lecherous, conniving little-"

"I'M GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THEM AND THAT'S FINAL!" Despite the loud voices, Ginny and Luna slept on while Hermione and Ron shook their heads. Grinning, Harry sat back down.

"Okay, if you say so." he said and went back to feeding Lily.

"Damn right I'm going to- AH! NO!" Draco smacked himself on the forehead realizing he'd just been had. "I hate you, Potter." he muttered and picked up Leander before going back to his room.

"What a git," Ron muttered.

Moments later Draco came rushing back, picked up Ginny and left in a hurry.

Giggling, the other four (excluding Luna who had to be dragged back into room later) went back to their rooms.

* * *

Surprise!! Ha-ha! I bet you're like, "WTF YOU UPDATED!?". Consider it my birthday gift to you... My deepest apologies. Things have been a whirlwind of events for me and for a while, I will admit that I forgot about this, but now that I've finally got free time... I WILL FINISH THIS! I thought, "hey, it's my birthday, I should do something nice" so.. Here you have it! I'm SO sorry I took forever to update but I _**PROMISE **_I will finish. Please don't be mad and review... I'd appreciate it. Make it my birthday present!

**MarauderWormtail89**


	8. More Babysitting

----

**Chapter Eight: More Babysitting**

-----

Draco couldn't believe that he'd been duped into babysitting once more. He wasn't very fond of the idea that he might flunk out on his classes because he was stuck babysitting pumpkin turned babies. But the strangest thing was, he didn't really mind. Dare he admit it? He _liked_ taking care of the babies. They were so… _cute._ He chuckled at the idea of finding babies cute. But yet there he was, watching them as they played on a little rug. Aric and Leander were dressed in just their diapers, playing with toy cars and blocks. Lily of course sat by herself in the corner, stacking up blocks only to knock them down once more. Though the task was simple, Draco couldn't help but wonder how amused she seemed to be. He got up from his sitting spot, walking over to the little girl. He sat himself across from her, watching her as she continue to play. She stopped briefly just to look at him, gurgle, then go back to what she'd been doing before.

"Aw," Draco said quietly as he took her little hand in his. It didn't seem to matter that she came from a pumpkin. Draco couldn't help but notice the similarities between the infant and her "parents". She gently squeezed his finger. The action caused him to laugh lightly, genuinely and he was unable to stop himself from smiling.

From out in the hall, Ginny was making her way back to their little hideout. She looked around the hall cautiously before pushing open the giant doors. She stopped in the doorway, picking up on the sound of laughter. She peeked from where she was standing to find Draco seated on the floor, head thrown back as he laughed, Lily in the air while the two other infants clung to his legs. Ginny smiled, tilting her head to the side as she watched the scene before her. She'd never seen him looking so carefree before. She had to admit though, the whole thing puzzled her. Seeing him looking so… Normal and not hateful was strange. She could feel the heat rising to her face. She was about to step back when she realized that he'd stopped laughing and was now looking at her.

"Uh, hi," she cleared her throat as she walked into the room, setting her bag down onto the floor next to the door. He set the children down, walking over to the sofa to sit back down.

"Shouldn't you be in class, or something," he asked, his cold icy voice surprisingly warm.

"Well, when I found out that you got stuck babysitting again, I decided to help you out. I'll take over and you can attend your afternoon classes," Ginny replied as she whipped out her books to set them on the table.

He frowned at her. She frowned back. She knew he was trying to figure out if there was a catch to her generosity. _I don't even know why I bother_, she thought as she rolled her eyes at him.

"What, I can't be nice?" she asked him. "Don't worry _Malfoy,_ this niceness isn't for very long."

He seemed to be mulling it over as if still unable to believe she was being kind enough to take over his babysitting shift. It wasn't really that he was surprised. He wasn't. He knew just how kind the redhead was if she wanted but he never once thought she'd be nice and kind to him. After all, he did nothing but torment her, not to mention insult her family. It felt… Nice.

"Why are you being nice, anyway? No one asked you," he sneered.

"Because, unlike some people, I'm capable of showing _compassion_, even to those who are complete total _jerks_."

Though it was routine for her to insult him, to call him names, a part of him felt hurt at her comment. He found himself frowning, the feeling wasn't going away. Granted, he was an ass towards them, but after all, he had a reputation to uphold.

"I'm a jerk," he couldn't believe how much of a baby he sounded. Of course, he should have known that Ginny would instantly pick up on this. She snorted with laughter before staring at him.

"Aw, did I hurt wittle Malfwoy's feewings?" she mocked before laughing some more. He glared at her, his hand immediately taking hold of his wand. He stopped, took a deep breath and swallowed whatever anger he was feeling.

"I'm going to class," he snapped curtly before grabbing his backs and walking out of the room in a hurry.

Ginny stood where she was, staring at his back as he disappeared from her view. The smile on her lips instantly died. The feeling of pure elation that she'd felt when she walked into the room was now gone, replaced with anger. Did she really hurt his feelings? But it seemed so impossible. He was mean, he was a bully, he loved insulting her… So why did she feel so bad? Not wanting to think about it, she decided to toss her thoughts aside and play with the babies.

***

Draco found himself having a difficult time concentrating. He could hear Snape's voice going on about what ingredients to use for a deadly potion. Normally he would have been paying eager attention to such a lesson (who wanted to miss out on the opportunity to learn a deadly potion?)but today he couldn't seem to focus. Well, he was focused but not on the lesson, but on a certain redhead that was caring for his child. Okay, so it wasn't his biological child but still… He couldn't seem to take his mind off the fiery redhead. He struggled to push thoughts of her away, but they came back every time. It wasn't his usual thoughts either of plotting ways to get her or torment her, but thoughts of her caring for that little baby. They'd only had the assignment for a small amount of time but it was clear to see that Ginny was (and would make) a wonderful mother.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape's stern, irritated voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Draco mumbled, his eyes going back to his paper.

He found himself wandering the courtyard, trying to figure out what was going on with him. Why he felt the way he felt when he thought about what Ginny had said. A jerk. She called him a jerk. That was a normal occurrence so why did it bother him so much? Why did he care so much?

The sound of children's laughter brought him out of his well of thoughts. He looked up, looking around, the sound being familiar to his ears. He followed the sound, finding himself near the Forbidden Forest. He continued to follow the sound, finding himself hiding behind a giant boulder as he looked on at the pumpkin patch. There, with the three children, was Ginny, laughing merrily as she let the children roam on the grass. Though the idea of letting them run wild in the yard of Hogwarts for everyone to see, Draco didn't seem to care much that his child was rolling around in dirt. He couldn't keep his eyes off the redhead as she watched them, played with them, laughed with them.

Then suddenly his cheeks were burning up, the temperature suddenly becoming higher. He found himself grinning as he watched her play with them. She seemed to be a natural. Not wanting to be caught watching her from behind some bushes and be given the wrong idea, he pulled himself away from the scene, ready to head back to the castle. It was then he felt his foot hit a twig, snapping it in half. The noise wasn't noticeable, usually but the grounds were so quiet that it caused Ginny to look up. She frowned, walking over toward him. Desperate for a hiding place, Draco quickly stumbled back, only to fall on his butt. He looked up at the redhead who seemed to be trying to figure out what he was doing on the ground in the first place.

"Malfoy," she asked with a frown. He blinked at her extended hand. Reluctantly, he took it, letting her help him up. "Are you alright?"

He didn't look at her, not wanting her to see just how red his cheeks were now. He hadn't even let go of her hand yet. He cleared his throat, brushing himself off. He pretended to look around for the children while she remained standing there, staring at him like he'd just crawled out of a spaceship. He looked… Different.

"Well? Are you okay?" she asked once more.

He simply nodded. "Wh-where are the kids," he asked, playing aloof.

"Don't worry they're safe, playing in the pumpkin patch," Ginny replied. It felt so awkward to be with him without the others. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class now?"

"I should be, but I'm not," he retorted. He calmed himself. "I just… I was checking up on you. Look, it's…" he quickly shoved his hands in his pocket. "It's my turn to watch the kids so… Go attend your classes, alright? Potter got me fair and square so, it's only right I do my part."

She blinked at him. "Are you… Being nice?" she drew away from him.

"Yes I'm being bloody friggin' nice. What's it to you?" he snapped. He sighed. "S-sorry…" for the strangest reason he didn't want to hurt her, or upset her.

"Well," Ginny found herself smiling. "I admire the chivalry, sir, but… it's alright. I can handle three munchkins on my own. Besides…" she looked away, shifting from one foot to the other, "I wouldn't want you to flunk out."

He blinked at her. Now it was his turn to smile. "My, Weasley, I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're concerned about my grades, which means you're concerned about my well being?"

"Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes. "We already established that earlier!"

And they found themselves cracking up. It was halfway through when Ginny realized that Draco was laughing, a genuine laugh. She stopped abruptly, listening to him. As much as she would have hated to admit it, she loved the sound of his laughter. She'd never heard him laugh out in good spirit so to hear it for the first time was mind boggling. She watched him. His eyes were scrunched up, his hand on his knee as he was slightly hunched over, body trembling with laughter. Realizing that he was the only one laughing now, he stopped. He looked at her, surprised to find her smiling at him widely. He straightened up, putting on his usual scowl.

"What?" he demanded.

"You should laugh more often, even smile," she said quietly.

He blushed, looking away. "Whatever," he stared hard at the floor.

"Aw," Ginny cracked up once more, poking Draco on the side, causing him to twitch and move away. Though she couldn't see, he was clearly trying not to smile.

*******

"Look at 'em Harry, it's disgusting," Ron nudged his best friend as they watched the scene not too far from them. They had gone back to the room of requirement after classes only to find it empty so they had set out to find them. They had been expecting Draco to be there with the children, not Ginny. So when they saw them together, Ron found himself baffled while Harry looked on amused. He shook his head. "What's that prat think he's doing anyway? Trying to make a move on my sister is strictly forbidden, I mean, really! He's a Slytherin for crying out loud."

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a bunch Ronald," Hermione's voice said from behind them. "It's quite… Cute."

_Oh, great. I've had to deal with these two make moon eyes at each other, now I have to watch my sister and that prat do it to each other_, Ron made a face. "Disgusting."

"So, what are you two doing here anyway?" Hermione inquired as she peered over their shoulders at the redhead and the blonde. "Aw."

"No, no! Not "aw"! It's "gross"!" Ron ranted.

"Oh lighten up," Harry replied with a smile. "He's not so bad, you know…"

"Not so bad? NOT SO BAD? How can you say such—"a hand clamped over his mouth and he looked up to find Hermione glaring at her.

"Keep it down or you're going to get us caught!" Hermione snapped at him.

"But…" he whined as soon as her hand lifted off his mouth.

"Hey, Ron," Harry cut in, "they've got desserts in the great hall. Why don't you go take a look?"

And before anyone could say anything else, Ron bolted off. Hermione laughed only to stop suddenly when she found Harry staring at her.

"'Mione…" he said uncertainly, "since Ginny's got the kids… Maybe you could help me study for my potions test tomorrow?"

"Of course, Harry," Hermione said with a grin. "I'd love to!"

And the two left the other two to sit in the pumpkin patch and enjoy their time alone together.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Can you believe this? I've updated! It's been almost a year, once more. And I'm keeping my promise. I **WILL** finish this story! So anyway, I thought the story was lacking in one on one moments so I figured I'd add some. What do you think? I hope I haven't lost half my readers (though I probably have) but I promise I will update again soon. PROMISE!!

Now... ONTO NEW STORIES!

Please leave a review.

Thank you.


	9. Just the Boys

**Severe Punishment**

**---**

**Chapter Nine: Just the Boys**

"You **must** be joking if you think you can just dump the kids on us!" Ron whined as he leaned back on the sofa. He stared long and hard at Luna, Ginny and Hermione before glaring. "No, no way!"

"Oh, Ron, it isn't like you're doing it completely alone," Hermione reasoned. "You've got Harry and Draco with you. You won't have to take care of all three of the babies, just your own."

"But it's so **unfair**," he went on. "You get to have fun at Hogsmeade and we three blokes have got to stay here to take care of these brats…"

"Next trip to Hogsmeade, you boys can go but right now, us girls need a break," Ginny added.

"But…"

"Just do it Ron, I bet Harry and Draco won't make such a big deal out of it," Luna rolled her eyes.

As if on cue, the large doors opened. Draco, along with Harry, walked, dumping their bags immediately by the door before going to join Ron on the sofa. Harry eyed Ron's aggravated expression before turning to look at the girls. Whatever was going on, Ron didn't like it. He cleared his throat, ready to ask a question when suddenly,

"They want us to keep an eye on the kids while they go on the first trip to Hogsmeade!"

Harry blinked, turning to look at the girls once more. Hermione was rolling her eyes while Luna seemed to be in a different world, leaving Ginny to be the only one who looked quite annoyed. Despite the situation, Harry chucked.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Hermione. When their eyes met, he broke out into a grin. "I wouldn't mind it. Besides, the girls need time for themselves, as you should know, Ron. Luna always gets up when the baby cries."

He seemed ready to argue but thought better, turning to look at the rather unusually quiet blonde. He looked up at the redhead, sighing.

"Though I normally wouldn't agree with Potter, I have got to say that… The girls do deserve a break, especially Luna." Draco frowned.

"Wh-what?" Ron sputtered. "B-but--!"

"Don't get you knickers in a bunch, Weasley, it's just for a couple of hours anyway," Draco rolled his eyes.

Though he had been unhappy before, seeing the look of gratitude Ginny gave the blonde made the other redhead unhappier. He glared at them, sighing angrily before flopping back down on the sofa in defeat.

"Fine," he said sourly but his face immediately turned red as soon as Luna's lips landed upon his cheeks. Realizing what had just happened, feeling everyone's eyes on him, he quickly jumped up, wiping his cheek. "Ugh! Gross! What'd you do that for?!" he demanded and ran off, not wanting anyone to see the smile creeping upon his face.

---

"Alright, Harry, make sure Lily gets fed and changed properly…" Hermione told the jet-black haired young man as she stood by the door with the rest of the girls. Unlike all of them, she seemed reluctant to leave them.

"I know, Hermione, taking care of a baby shouldn't be a problem at all. I think I can handle a day without you," Harry smiled, "Really. Don't worry."

"I'm just…" Hermione sighed, "Just don't wear yourself out, alright?" she couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her cheeks, nor could he. They both looked away, laughing awkwardly while the rest looked on.

"Ridiculous," Ron whispered to Ginny as he shook his head. "I don't see why they don't just say something already; I mean it's rather obvious."

"Yeah," Ginny nodded, "they are a little slow on the uptake, but, I won't deny it, it's rather cute to watch. Sickening, but cute."

Draco walked over, Leander cradled securely in his arms. "Are those two **still** saying goodbye? Last I checked it doesn't take almost a full five minutes to say goodbye."

"Oh, speaking of which," Ron turned to Luna. "Have fun." He waved and sauntered off. Ginny rolled her eyes, shrugging as she sent Luna an apologetic look.

"He's such a buffoon," Ginny sighed.

"It's okay," Luna grinned, "but I should go on ahead before people start looking for me! I'll see you two later!"

And she was gone. Hermione gave Lily one last peck on the forehead before waving goodbye to Harry, finally going on her way. Now it was just down to Draco and Ginny, who seemed to be having quite the difficult time saying goodbye, let alone looking at each other. Draco gently rocked Leander in his arms, his eyes cast down onto the floor.

"Well," Ginny cleared her throat, "I suppose this is it. I'll see you when I get back later… I'll miss you."

Draco's head snapped up, his hopeful eyes betraying him. Disappointment flooded through him when he realized that of course, she was talking to Leander and **not** him.

He watched as she leaned over, planting a small kiss upon the baby's cheek. He didn't know why, but suddenly he found himself wishing he was the baby instead. He looked away, not wanting to be caught gawking at the girl he seemed to enjoy tormenting. She cleared her throat again, straightening up.

"Well, I'll see you later then," she spoke to him.

"Later," he replied.

"And do try** not** to scare him to death like you usually do," Ginny chuckled. Nervously, she reached up, ruffling his golden locks. "Bye."

Before he could look up, she was gone. He ran a hand through his hair, smiling.

_Guess she's not so bad after all_, he thought, carrying Leander back to his crib.

**---**

"I'm **bored**," Ron whined, turning over on the sofa once more.

Harry stood behind the kitchen counter, watching as his best friend tossed and turned on the sofa, whining constantly. Draco, seated on the big brown chair near the fireplace had Leander in his lap, bouncing him upon his knee as he made cooing noises. Lily of course was sitting in her high chair, amused by her green plastic little bowl that had once been full of food. Only Ron seemed to be the only one not interested in his baby.

Little Aric sat on the rug in front of the sofa, blowing bubbles with his own spit. Harry found it amusing how the little baby could amuse itself. Not even an hour had gone by and already Ron had given up trying to care for his child. Aric didn't seem to mind at all.

"You know, Ron," Harry said as he fixed Lily a bottle, "instead of whining about how **bored** you are, why don't you play with Aric, he looks pretty bored too."

"He doesn't **like** me, Harry," Ron continued to whine. "For the oddest reason he only seems to like Luna. Every time I come near him, he crawls away from me!"

"That's because you're not bonding with him," Draco said from his spot, he was now rubbing Leander's back. "You always let Luna do all the work. Why don't you do something for a change, you lazy—"

"Okay, I don't think we have to fight over it or anything like that," Harry cut in.

"Fine then," Ron rolled his eyes as he slid lazily off the couch, down onto the floor. He crawled over to Aric, who immediately picked up the seemingly forgotten toy truck he had, throwing it at Ron. It hit the redhead square on the forehead. Aric let out a giggle as Ron clutched at his forehead in pain.

"See!"

Harry began to laugh, shaking his head. "That's rather pitiful, Ron."

"I hate babies," Ron replied dryly. "Remind me never to have one of my own. I mean, really, they're not that good for anything."

"You'd make a horrible father in the future." Draco shook his head as he walked over to the play rug, putting Leander down. He watched as the toddler crawled towards the pink-haired baby and was immediately pinned down.

Soon the three young men were gathered around the play rug, watching as the two toddlers wrestled, giggling all the while.

"C'mon Aric, beat that baby down! Beat him!" Ron was shouting excitedly. Draco stood with him, shouting as well for his baby to be victorious. Harry too was caught up in the whole wrestling match, but of course he didn't want Lily to participate in it.

"It's a pity you got stuck with a girl, Potter," Draco laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Lily could take on those two in a race," Harry said smugly, knowing just how fast the baby crawled.

"Yeah? You're on!" Ron exclaimed.

They scrambled over to one side of the room, clearing the rest of the furniture before grabbing their babies. They all grinned at each other, boredom, and the last thing on their minds.

"Alright, I'm putting my money on Lily, of course," Harry grinned. "Your scrawny boys aren't a match for my pretty girl, isn't that right darling?"

Ron and Draco exchanged a look as Harry continued to give the baby Eskimo kisses. The two other men stifled a laugh before setting their babies down onto the ground.

"Alright, whoever loses has to make dinner **and** wash the dishes." Draco declared since he'd been the one to do most of the dishes lately.

"Alright, ready, set… GO!"

The excitement from their faces disappeared as they realized that their children weren't moving at all. In fact, they were still sitting on the ground, giggling and gurgling. Ron looked down at Aric, eyes wide.

"Well, c'mon then, get going, I don't want to wash dishes tonight!" he pressed.

"Come on, Leander, you can do it," Draco said soothingly to his child as Harry did the same.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Ron said and dug into his pocket, pulling out a small chocolate frog. He wiggled it enticingly in front of Aric. "C'mon, son, you want the Froggy don't you? C'mon, come and get it."

"Hey! That's cheating, Weasley!" Draco glared. "You can't do that!"

"I'm not **doing **anything wrong; I'm simply helping him along." Ron stuck out his tongue.

"YES! YES! GO LILY!" Harry was cheering insanely for only his "daughter" had taken off. After a moment of gawking, Ron gently began to nudge Aric along with his foot.

"Oh, so you wanna play dirty, do you?" Draco smirked as he picked up Leander. He was about to run when both Harry and Ron grabbed a hold of his legs, causing him to fall.

They continued to bicker, forgetting the fact that Leander was no longer in Draco's arms.

"You no good filthy cheater!" Ron was shouting.

"Well you did start it, Ron," Harry added, "but you! It doesn't give you an excuse to cheat like that!"

"Well he started with his—"

"Hee-hee."

The awkward random giggle caused the three to break from their scuffle.

"OH NO!" Draco immediately stood, realizing that his "child" was now flying through the air. He ran, or at least tried to run as fast as he could to try to catch Leander before he fell onto the ground.

Ron and Harry sat up, eyes closed tight, unable to look at the scene.

"No!" Draco shouted and everything seemed to just slow down. When he was certain he had Leander in his grasp, he ended up tripping over his two feet, falling flat upon his face. These caused the other two boys to jump up, without any course of action of course and were left to stare as Leander came closer and closer to the ground.

"NOOO!"

"He's not going to make it," Ron shouted, turning away as Draco struggled to get up on his feet.

"Your wands! USE YOUR WANDS!" Harry shouted as he dug into his pocket for his wand. "Oh, darn it!"

"Leander!"

"**Wingardium Leviosa!"**

"Oh, thank Merlin," Draco sighed as he flopped back down onto the floor. Though the baby was safe it was no time to celebrate for three rather angry looking young women now stood in the doorway.

"Care to explain?" Ginny asked, her arms crossed across her che

All three young men looked at each other, following the same procedure of swallowing the now horrible lump in their throats before facing the girls once more.

"Well…"

"I…"

"We're doomed." Ron fell to his knees.

And he couldn't have been more right.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

Well, I updated again, AND IN THE SAME WEEK so I think this calls for some reviews, don't you?! To those who HAVE reviewed, thank you very much. I appreciate it and don't think I didn't see a lot of you fave this or alert this... Lemme know what you think!! Thanks.

Have a good one; Might update again later.


	10. Little Moments

**Severe Punishment**

**---**

**Chapter Ten: Little Moments**

"What in the world were you thinking?"

Three angry young women stood in front of the sofa where three frightened young men sat. The glares on their faces were enough to petrify the other party, which helped since it meant that, after all, they had the upper hand. Their children, obviously and completely unaware of the trouble their fathers were in, continued to play on.

"Baby racing? Have you all completely lost your **mind**? That's just plain stupidity, let alone recklessness! You could have gotten them turned back to pumpkins! I don't know about you but I'd rather not lose points of my house!" Luna screeched, which Ron found odd since she'd always been so calm.

Ron, Draco and Harry never would have thought that they'd get into so much trouble. Yes, it had been silly to race babies but they hadn't thought that the girls would be home so soon. They figured they'd be able to pull it off without getting caught.

"Well, what have you got to say for yourselves?" Ginny asked with raised eyebrows. She couldn't wait to hear whatever excuse they all had.

"I… Well," Ron stammered, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I was…"

"You should be **ashamed**!" Hermione glared.

But every one soon fell into a state of shock as Draco stood up. At first they were afraid he'd hex them all with the glare he was sporting but it quickly disappeared, replaced with an apologetic smile. He couldn't seem to look at Ginny so he looked at Luna instead.

"Believe me when I say that we're not fond of what we've done," he began, "but to explain, we were clearly **bored** and **this** idiot," he gestured at Ron, "wouldn't shut up and it just sort of happened. It's no excuse, we take full responsibility but what do you expect," he shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Boys will be boys."

_Ugh, has he always been this cute?!_ Ginny looked away from him, trying to fight the blood from rushing to her face. She didn't even know why she thought he was cute. He was mean, obnoxious, a jerk… But when he wanted to be (clearly) he was a nice enough guy.

"Well," Hermione replied quite baffled. For a few moments she just stood there, mouth opening and closing. "Uh, thank you for your h-honesty, Mal—Draco."

With mouths hanging open, Ron and Harry continued to stare at the blonde as he flashed a smile at the youngest Weasley. Still stumped by his honesty and **niceness**, Ron didn't have time to catch the small exchange between the two enough to make a big deal out of it. The incident seemingly forgotten, they decided it was time for dinner, which Harry found rather odd. Never had he imagined he'd be sitting at a dining table with Malfoy and Luna, sharing food with children. As odd as it was, he thought it rather nice. They certainly were much better company than the Dursley family.

He immediately noticed the way they'd paired off. Ginny sat next to Draco, unbelievably close while Leander sat in the high chair, gurgling happily. Next to them, sat Ron and Luna, which Harry thought was funny. Aric's high chair was wedged in between them, both of them trying to feed the baby at the same time.

"Cute couple, aren't they," he heard Hermione whisper from beside him. He chuckled quietly.

"I don't think Ron would be too thrilled if he heard you say that," Harry turned to her with a smile. Once again he found it difficult to breathe. He couldn't believe that he was so close to her and was still able to function. Lately it had seemed that whenever she was close by, his body, along with his mind could completely shut down.

"Yes, well, you know Ron, he makes a big fuss out of everything," Hermione giggled before feeding Lily.

Harry watched her, completely mesmerized. It didn't take long before the scene before him changed. Hermione was now much older, perhaps in her middle twenties (still beautiful as every though) and was now feeding a child that looked quite a lot like Harry except for the eyes. She turned to him slowly, smiling.

"Harry?"

Harry quickly blinked, shaking his head. "Uh, yeah?" he turned away, blushing.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked concernedly, putting a hand upon his shoulder. However, the course of action caused the young boy to jump up with a yelp. He immediately grabbed his knee, realizing that he had banged the table with it.

The loud commotion on the one side caused the others to stop their conversation, looking up in confusion. The other four watched as Hermione fussed over the now absolutely red Harry. Ron smirked.

"Look at 'em," he said loud enough for his companions to hear, "it's ridiculous. Why don't they just 'fess up already? I mean, really, it's not that difficult to say "I fancy you"."

"I fancy you, Ron," Luna grinned at him. Then she laughed. "You're right, it isn't that hard."

Ron blinked at her. "Wha?"

Luna giggled, placing a light kiss upon his already red cheek. Just like that, Ron found himself frozen.

Ginny turned to her companion and was both surprised and worried at the look upon Draco's face. His face was red, his cheeks slightly bloated. His eyes were moist with tears while weird little noises were escaping from his tightly closed lips.

"Draco?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

A snort like sound was his only reply.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded, then shook his head vigorously. Frowning, she placed a hand on his forehead. He wasn't warm, but he really did look rather odd.

"You're scaring me—"

"HAHAHAHA!" he collapsed onto the table.

His sudden outburst caused the commotion around them to stop. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny all stared at him in shock. He looked like he'd just lost his mind as his body continued tremble with laughter.

"Oh, now honestly, what's gotten into him," Hermione huffed, her hand still on Harry's arm.

"I haven't got a clue," Ginny replied, her frown deepening.

"Well, now that's rather odd," Luna shrugged. She giggled as she realized that Ron still hadn't moved from his spot.

"Ah," Draco sat up, clutching his stomach. "You lot are rather funny. Pathetic in a sense, but funny."

"Funny," it was now Hermione's turn to frown. "Funny, how?"

Draco straightened up, taking a deep breath. "Ah, well, if I told you, it wouldn't be so fun anymore." He yawned, suddenly feeling rather tired. "Well, thanks for dinner, but I'm turning in."

"But it's only eight," Ron finally spoke, his voice squeaky.

"That laughing must've taken a lot out of me. Anyway, goodnight." Draco leaned down as he planted a kiss upon Leander's head. Then without thinking, he ruffled Ginny's hair. Giving her a quick, shy smile, he walked off for the boys quarters.

"Well, what's going on with **you** two," Ron turned to his sister, who's face matched her hair color.

"I don't know, **what** you're talking about," Ginny replied, clearing her throat, hoping her voice didn't betray her.

"Don't give me that," Harry raised an eyebrow, finally sitting down. "We saw you at the pumpkin patch, laughing and such."

"So what? Two people can't laugh together while baby-sitting?" Ginny glared. Not wanting to start anything, Harry backed off, hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, shutting up now," he replied and went back to eating.

Though they had a good time eating, there was still the matter of dishes that had to be done. Unfortunately for Harry, the others had quickly ditched, claiming the last one to finish would be the one to wash dishes. Why did he have to eat so damn slow anyway? Fortunately, Hermione was kind enough to help him out. **Unfortunately**, she was standing close to him. Too close.

"You do realize," Hermione said as she dried the dishes, "that you could have just used your wand and made them clean themselves?"

Harry chuckled. "Well, yeah, I could have, but I'm so used to doing it the old fashioned way. Besides, if I did that, I wouldn't be able to have this time alone with you."

Hermione blushed. "Oh, Harry, you sure know how to win a girl's heart," she teased.

"Of course, nothing wins a girl's heart like making her wash dishes with him," he chuckled, his arms deep in suds. Smirking to himself, he flicked bubbles at her. She let out a yelp, nudging him in return.

"You know," Ginny said as she sat herself down on the sofa with her brother. "For a smart girl, Hermione sure is dense."

Ron chuckled as he watched his two best friends. He wasn't going to lie, it was odd and scary to see them getting along so well. It wasn't because he liked one of them more than he wanted to, it was jus the fear that the two of them getting together meant leaving him behind. After all, relationships always changed the best of friends, no matter how long they'd all been friends for.

"Harry isn't any smarter," Ron replied with a smile. "It's rather sickeningly sweet to watch this."

"You think they know we're here?"

"Most likely not." He yawned. "I'm going to bed."

And Ginny followed leaving the other two to clean up their mess, taking longer than necessary.

**---**

"WAHH!"

While the rest of the crew slept on, only two out of the six awoke at the same time. Though in separate bedrooms, Ginny and Draco sat upright in their beds, both immediately recognizing the cry of their "child". Both still half asleep, they trudged out of their rooms, not noticing the other was they walked over to the babies bedroom. It wasn't until they reached the room when they realized that they weren't alone.

"You can go back to bed, I'll take it from here," Draco sleepily told her as he picked up Leander, rocking him in his arms.

Ginny yawned. "You always take care of him, it's my turn."

"No, really, it's okay, you can go back to bed, you look tired."

Ginny smiled. "Since when do you care about my well being."

"I thought we already established that earlier that though I don't want to, I do." He joked.

And just like that, she fell upon him, her head falling upon his shoulder. Draco stiffened, realizing what had happened. As weirded out as he was, he found himself not really caring so much. All he cared about was that she was so close to him and that he could smell her sweet smelling hair. Without thinking, he leaned his head against hers, Leander still in his arms.

Feeling the weight against her head, Ginny opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself.

_This is… oddly nice._ Ginny smiled.

She snuggled closer to him, following him as he led them out to the living room. He sat her down on the sofa, following right after. As soon as he sat, she flopped her head against his shoulder once more. Though she was probably going to get into a lot of trouble in the morning, she didn't care. She had her excuse ready anyway. She was too tired, she didn't know what she was doing. She smirked to herself.

_Yes, that'll work just fine_.

And as she drifted off to slumber, she couldn't help but notice him snuggling closer to her, their "child" in between them.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

AWWW!! Ahaha, okay, so it's short, but at LEAST I got out another chapter before my week break from school is almost up. I'm on a ROLL. Thank you very much to those who've reviewed, it was your reviews that motivated me to update again so, KEEP EM COMING!!

Lots Of Love XD

Have a nice day & Thank you


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